Here's how Luke Rayfield, Crest baseball powered past East Lincoln
Crest baseball has won games in all forms and fashions during the 2026 season. In its 5A West third round playoff matchup with East Lincoln, the Chargers manufactured another.
BOILING SPRINGS — Surveying the ballpark ahead of his team’s NCHSAA 5A West third-round matchup with East Lincoln, there wasn’t any reason for Crest baseball coach Adam McFarland to expect a slugfest Tuesday, May 12. “I mean, the ball carries (at the Crest High baseball stadium) all the time, but the wind wasn’t blowing straight out or anything like that,” he said. “But one thing is for sure, the baseball was flying out of here (Tuesday).
” In a game which featured eight home runs, 5A West 3-seed Crest outlasted No. 6 East Lincoln 14-9, earning it a spot opposite second-ranked South Point in a regional final matchup May 15. MORE THAN BASEBALL, SOFTBALL: How playing '4 Pearl' is lifting Crest baseball, softball in NCHSAA playoffs FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATIC: Crest softball, baseball pass stern NCHSAA playoff tests.
Here's how “I felt like we put some good swings on some balls,” McFarland said. “This was definitely a crazy launching pad type of night for us. ” The Chargers hit five home runs in the game, a bulk of them coming during a six-run fifth inning.
On the heels of a six-run spurt which gave East Lincoln a 6-5 advantage, back-to-back home runs by Luke Rayfield and Landry Ohmstead put Crest back in front. After an Eli Black flyout which fell just short of leaving the ballpark, Caleb Costner and J. M.